Lorde

This has certainly been a crazy year, in which I’ve undergone a job promotion (and its corresponding prior public contest), I’ve started living with perhaps the best person I could ever share my life with, I’ve quit the language school I had been 13 years working for, I’ve visited the Azores (among other places) and Porto (twice!) and I’ve been to concerts. Fewer than I would’ve wanted to. As usual, not all the ones I’ve been to I’ve written about. Days have 24 hours as they used to, yes, but life changes. So do one’s habits. And one’s priorities. And one’s plans for the (near) future. If this year the number of concerts has decreased considerably as compared to last year’s, this number will decrease even more with my leaving for the US in a research stay from Feb to May, and perhaps with one more stay in Chile (yet to be confirmed). What is certain is that my love of (live) music will never disappear even if the circumstances don’t allow me to go there and cry and shiver and feel moved with it. Without further ado, and in chronological order, here is my top of concerts 2018 gave me.

1. Roger Waters – 14/4/18, Palau Sant Jordi.

If you keep on talking about a show for two months, it’s because that show was forking amazeballs.

2. Editors – 26/4/18, Razzmatazz

Tom Smith stole my heart the first time I saw him live. He did it again last April.

3. Vetusta Morla – 18/5/18, Palau Sant Jordi.

Pucho is the friggin’ boss on stage. There’s no denying.

4. Jane Birkin – 2/6/18, Primavera Sound

Not knowing any of one’s songs but one and getting to be moved by her elegance, savoir faire and voice is what Jane Birkin got to do to me last June. Her daughter was fantastic, but the original genes won over the derivates this time.

5. Lorde – 2/6/18, Primavera Sound

Seeing a true artist grow on stage is a privilege. Seeing Lorde own it is priceless.

6. Joan Dausà – 13/7/18, Cruïlla

Not sure if I was pmed or what, but Joan Dausà made me cry at 6pm in the sunshine. Take that.

7. Ramon Mirabet – 14/4/18, Cruïlla

Learning about Mirabet’s life makes you understand even better that what he does on stage is just him and nothing else. (vídeo d’un altre concert)

8. The Soft Moon – 13/10/18, Apolo 2.

Needing so badly to see someone banging drums and whatever he has nearby can’t be a good sign, but that’s what I needed and that’s what I found.

9. Marlango – 28/11/18, Sala BARTS.

That I love Leonor Watling is no secret, and that she’s the reason why I think that a good vocalist does the trick in certain bands goes without saying. And of course, you need that one song, ‘Dime que llegaremos lejos’ that makes you go and see them for the third time in your life and never have enough.

One day before expected, Primavera Sound has announced this year’s line-up. As opposed to what my emotions/reactions have been so far towards the Vida Festival line-up, I can’t be more excited about this year’s PS edition, with acts of the likes of The National, the great Lorde, The Breeders, Warpaint or Grizzly Bear, among many others. I wrote briefly about it for Hipsterian Circus, while waiting for some quieter times to be able to choose which ones I’m deffo going to see (if no overlaps, that is!).

According to my records, I’ve attended 42 concerts this year, including those in festivals. That’s a figure considerably lower than last year’s (73) as I didn’t attend Primavera Sound this year. As I always say, if I ever go to a concert, it’s to be thrilled, to be moved, to feel something regardless of the elements that reviewers would focus on. So, what follows is nothing but the list of those concerts that have meant something to me on that day, for whatever reason. There I go, and in chronological order…

1.The Lazy Lies – 11/2/2017, Nota79

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen TLL live, but their first gig at Nota79 this year (they performed in the same place a few months later) certainly heated the cold winter we were experiencing. Now go kill me, I didn’t write any review of it. Damn!

2. Glen Hansard– 28/3/2017, Casino del Poblenou

It’s no news that I’m in love with this musician, so I might not even be objective with him any more. This time, I must thank Glen for letting me discover Escuchando Elefantes, so once again, apart from making me laugh and cry in the same gig, thanks for that too, man! (review)

3. Ed Sheeran – 9/4/2017, Palau Sant Jordi

‘I See Fire’ en el tour de ‘Divide’

His latest album might not be the bomb, but he’s still in full shape. Plus, dancing to ‘Shape Of You’ with your teen cousins is just priceless. (review)

4. Escuchando Elefantes – 6/5/2017, Sala Continental

Though it turn out a bit too long in the end, that was by all means one of the best birthday presents I’ve ever got. Thanks, Dedé. (review)

5. Depeche Mode– 19/6/2017, Hallenstadion Letzigrund, Zurich

As with Eddie, DM’s latest album might not be among their best ones, but they’re still alive and kicking, despite the fact that the Swiss don’t seem to enjoy concerts the way Mediterranean people do. (review)

6. Phoenix – 29/6/2017, Vida Festival

Being able to enjoy the band without being surrounded by unconscious Italians as in PS 2013 made me discover that Phoenix is much more than ‘If I Ever Feel Better’. I wrote a review on the festival for Hipsterian Circus, which you can find here.

7. Pet Shop Boys– 8/7/2017, Festival Cruïlla

Seeing 50-year-olds crying around you after their concert is just one further proof that they are eternal. I explain it here.

8. Foster The People– 9/7/2017, Razzmatazz

Writing their review paid off with both a follow and an RT from their CM and close to 1,000 visits. Shame I didn’t write it in English.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the time to write a proper review of this concert. So I’ll sum it up briefly here: London Grammar are great live, Hannah’s voice is as powerful and haunting as on record and they remake quite a few songs to play them in front of an audience, so what you get is not what you could just listen to from the couch at home. Yet what I feared the most happened: the concert was only very little more than one hour long. This was one of the main complaints of their fans in their previous tour, the length of the concerts of which could be justified, up to a certain extent, due to the fact that they just had one album back then. But, hello, this is not the case any more. Also, Hannah wasn’t in full shape, so they even canceled a couple of concerts right after the one in Lyon. Despite all this, them being one of my fave bands at present, and taking into account that I shared it with one of my fave people on Earth, it deserves to be here. By the way, French audiences in stands don’t tend to take pics, so all I could get is this crappy pic above.